HS girls basketball: Midlakes powers its way to Class B title

HENRIETTA — Relief was the first word out of Midlakes girls basketball head coach Nate Rich’s mouth after the post-game ceremonies. Relief after losing in the 2015 Class B semifinals.

The relief came from the Screaming Eagles capping off their undefeated season with a 70-40 victory over the Bath-Haverling Rams in the Section V Class B final on Saturday at Rush-Henrietta.

"It’s just an awesome, awesome feeling," said Rich. "I mean, there was some relief, but it’s an awesome feeling. This group has worked real hard this year. So it’s just an awesome feeling to see the hard work pay off for this group, because we’ve worked every day hard in practice. Never expected to be undefeated, but this has been awesome. We knew we were going to be good this year, didn’t know it was going to end like this. Definitely a much better ending than last time."

"It’s an unbelievable feeling," said junior Alaina Forbes. "We’re all speechless. We’re on the bench like ‘Wow, this is like a dream!’"

Forbes stole the show, leading all scorers with 36 points after nearly eclipsing her game average of 25 at halftime with 21.

"She was dynamite tonight," Rich said. "She was hitting threes, and then she was sharing the ball with her teammates as well and make everyone around her better. That’s been the key for this season, it’s not just been her scoring but finding the open teammates and playing defense on the other end, getting those deflections to get us out in transition."

The Rams jumped out to a 2-0 lead early, but Midlakes roared back with a 16-0 run keyed by a Forbes three-pointer and never looked back.

"I think just the pressure, getting up on them," Rich said. "I think that bothered them, the full-court press. They hadn’t seen, I think, too much speed like ours this season. They definitely had us in size, and we just wanted to make them play faster than they were comfortable with. I think we did that during that first-half run."

"We just really pushed the ball," Forbes said. "When she made that basket, we were just like ‘We really can’t go soft,’ so we just had to step it up."

Yet for all the dominance on the scoreboard, one of the best players on the floor belonged to the Rams in senior guard Jadyn Abrams. She led Bath with 29 points and was a threat every time she touched the ball. She scored seven straight points and nine of 10 in the late stages of the first half.